For a piece published on Thursday, Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports shared some information that suggests the San Francisco 49ers should sign wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a contract extension sooner rather than later.
“Aiyuk had 1,342 receiving yards last year (seventh in NFL) and joined Jerry Rice as the only players in franchise history with 7+ 100-yard receiving games in a season,” Kerr explained. “He averaged 3.1 yards per route run in 2023, the third-best rate in the NFL behind Tyreek Hill (of the Miami Dolphins) and (the Houston Texans’) Nico Collins (minimum 400 routes). Aiyuk was second in the league in yards per catch (17.9) and led the NFL in percentage of catches going for a first down or touchdown (81.3%).”
Aiyuk recorded those stats during the team’s first regular season that featured Brock Purdy as San Francisco’s full-time healthy starting quarterback. Aiyuk ended the campaign with a team-high 105 targets. He, fellow receiver Deebo Samuel and running back Christian McCaffrey finished tied for the team lead in touchdown receptions with seven.
As of Thursday afternoon, Aiyuk reportedly was neither close to signing an extension with the 49ers nor requesting a trade. Kerr hinted that the 26-year-old, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, should continue to thrive in San Francisco’s offense while catching passes from Purdy.
“Aiyuk is the first player in 49ers history with 55+ catches, 740+ yards and 5+ touchdowns in each of his first four seasons,” Kerr continued. “He’s 11th in receiving yards (2,357), 16th in yards per catch (15.4) and tied for 11th in receiving touchdowns (15) over the last two seasons — all while being the No. 2 wideout on a stacked 49ers roster.”
As recently as last week, Randy Mueller of The Athletic mentioned that the 49ers could lock Aiyuk down via an extension and then accept calls regarding Samuel’s services “maybe even before the season starts.” Samuel is signed through the 2025 campaign and (like Aiyuk) has remained the subject of some trade rumors even though 49ers general manager John Lynch has repeatedly made it known he plans to hold on to both players through this fall.
